Back in high school, I used to love sketching out floor plans for houses on my very own pad of graph paper. After many hours, I'm sure, I came up with my "ideal" floor plan...my dream house. I doubt we'll ever actually be able to build it, or be able to afford to live in it if we ever did build it, but it sure does look perfect to me, even years later. And no, that is not a sketch of my dream home to the right...think large and colonial.
Realizing that I'll probably always have to make some sacrifices when it comes to the houses that we live in, there are some things that I'm finding are more important than others when it comes to houses. Here are just a few:
- no bathrooms directly off the kitchen. Around the corner? Sure. But not RIGHT THERE when I'm trying to cook. Ick.
- at least two bathrooms. I never thought I would be someone who would need two bathrooms but, even with it just being two of us (for now), two bathrooms would be lovely! LOVELY!!! And after countless night-time trips to the loo throughout this pregnancy, an en suite would be wonderful as well.
- storage space/vanity/good lighting in the bathroom. I don't need to have a huge bathroom, but I do at least need to have some sort of cupboard under the sink or closet to store things. You know those things that just accumulate the longer you live in one spot (hotel shampoos, lotions, etc)? I'm not a fan of storing them on the other end of the house. Oh, and a few towels in the bathroom would be nice.
- a decent sized kitchen. For someone who spends a fair amount of time in the kitchen most days, it would be nice to have a functional space.
- Master bedroom with enough space for bed, dresser/wardrobe, and perhaps a chair as well.
- Usable finished basement, preferably only half deep (as with a split-level home) so there are full-sized windows and less chance of flooding.
And then of course there are other things that would be nice but I'll probably have to wait a while for:
- fireplace/library/music room
- theatre room
- LARGE kitchen
- family room AND living room
- ensuite with soaking tub and double sinks
- walk-in closet in master bedroom
- walk-in pantry in kitchen
That said, the thing about houses that makes them homes isn't the number of bathrooms or the size of the kitchen. (ready for some cheese?) It's the people who live there. As long as I have space and time with the people I love, I can deal with the one and only bathroom being directly off the kitchen, an unusable basement, a tiny kitchen, a minuscule master bedroom, no insulation in the walls, a broken toilet seat, leaky water pipes... ... ...
If you could choose any one thing to add to your existing home (or have in your next home) what would it be and why?
5 comments:
Only one thing??!! Umm, how about an ensuite (so the kids don't always bug me or barge in on me), or a large kitchen (need space for all of us) - oh, oh, a mud-room entrance with individual lockers for each person so that shoes and jackets actually get put where they belong. Oh, I NEED a whirlpool tub in the ensuite :). So, in order of importance - large kitchen, private master bath, organized mudroom entrance. Oh, and a laundry room that is not also the storage room and the craft room and the utility room. And, lucky for us, we can actually include these in the next house. I think I will feel very VERY spoiled!
Closets! I would like a linen closet, a utility closet, and a coat closet. I would also like walk in closets in the bedrooms.
I just find these old small houses are impossible to organize without the space to do it.
Enough storage for all the "extra" junk...a basement would work for that..or a garage. Also, VERY important is a double sink in the kitchen. I lived in SO many apartments that had a single sink and it was the most frustrating thing in the world!! Oh and an actual front entryway, not a door that opens right into the middle of everything.
Marni
Just one??
A laundry room that is more than a laundry closet. I like a large basin sink and shelving. If I'm getting really indulgent, a large shelf along one wall to serve as a sorting/folding table would be sweet.
More than one thing? I love our walk-in and ensuite in our current condo, but one of my first indulgent projects planned for when Jeremy and I are home owners is a custom-organized closet. *drool*
Only one? That won't happen :) Well I would choose any house that does not have a cider block basement due to ALL the problems it is causing us (most recently the mice). I would love a bigger kitchen with a pantry. I would like a finished laundry room (ours scares me a bit, (also due to the mice), an ensuite would be amazing, oh and I would choose a house where the kitchen is seperate from the main areas. I also have a dream house pattern that we will likely never afford to build but it is beautiful to dream about it!
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